A Passion for Compassion for Others

MAAC has been keeping busy and we wouldn’t have it any other way! I just got back from a week long implementation of our newest product and am excited to welcome 13 new agencies to the MAAC family. But I am happy to be home and sleeping in my own bed.

That simple statement racks me with guilt because everyday we work with people who have no home and no bed. It’s hard for me to compartmentalize the guilt, to exist right along side the magnitude of the homeless reality in our world. I want to solve the problem and solve it NOW.

I have to remind myself that I cannot solve it alone, let alone overnight. What I can do is show compassion to every single person that I encounter, homeless or not, and that simple choice can change the world. I can’t give every homeless neighbor a bed and a hot meal, but I can smile when I walk by. I can choose to recognize they exist rather than ignore them and the uncomfortable, ugly truth in our society.

I’m not alone. There is a movement afoot to breed more compassion for others in ourselves. People are waking up to the knowledge that we, individually, must be the change that we want to see in our world. I may not be able to end homelessness by myself but I can cultivate more compassion for others.

Here’s a great real life example of how a simple act of compassion can change the world, for at least one man: